Conventionally, an electronic apparatus such as a mobile phone, etc. is provided with a printed wiring board inside thereof, and an electronic component such as a sensor module, other semiconductor elements, etc. is mounted to the printed wiring board. In this case, because the electronic component that is easily affected by heat cannot be directly mounted by means of soldering, such component is connected to the printed wiring board using a socket for mounting an electronic component.
A socket for mounting an electronic component includes a socket housing having an electronic component accommodating part that is surrounded by a peripheral wall raised from the four sides of a quadrangle-shape bottom plate, and a plurality of contacts protruding from the bottom plate of the socket housing and having elastic contact pieces that elastically contact terminal parts in the bottom part of an electronic component such as a sensor module, a semiconductor element, etc. in the electronic component accommodating part, and by causing the electronic component accommodating part to hold the electronic component such as a sensor module, a semiconductor element, etc., respective terminal parts of the electronic component contact the elastic contact pieces of the plurality of contacts, and thereby the electronic component is electrically connected to the printed wiring board via these contacts.
The socket for mounting an electronic component also includes in the peripheral wall of the socket housing a plurality of socket-side engaging parts protruding to the inside of the electronic component accommodating part and having elastic fixing pieces whose fixing protrusions at the tip ends are locked in the bottom parts of locking recessed parts of a peripheral wall of the electronic component, and the electronic component is held in the electronic component accommodating part by these socket-side engaging parts.
As the plurality of socket-side engaging parts of conventional sockets for mounting an electronic component, there have been known the engaging parts that are arranged one by one symmetrically at the positions closer to the corners of respective side parts of a quadrangular peripheral wall raised from the four side parts of a quadrangle-shape bottom plate (see, for example, FIG. 2 of Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2005-150052 published by Japanese Patent Office), and the engaging parts that are arranged, two pieces by two pieces with an interval between the two pieces, at respective four side parts of a quadrangular peripheral wall (see, for example, FIG. 2 of Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2006-79871 published by Japanese Patent Office).
However, with such symmetrical arrangement of these socket-side engaging parts for the socket for mounting an electronic component, when inserting an electronic component into the electronic component accommodating part of the socket housing, even when the electronic component is inserted 180 degrees reversed, it results in that the electronic component is locked in respective socket-side engaging parts, so that there has been a problem that the connection always in the correct orientation cannot be guaranteed.
The object of the present invention is to provide a socket for mounting an electronic component that can connect an electronic component always in the correct orientation.